Proof of Life
by Rylitah
Summary: An unfortunate accident leaves the surviving Smashers in the outside without a home and nothing but the clothes on their backs. Every day is a struggle when you're out of food and your best friend is set to go insane at any moment. Keep it together. Your life may depend on it. / "... You can talk to me. I promise I won't reveal your secret. It was your fault, wasn't it?"


Thump._ Thump. Thump._

"—on't leave…! You promised me! What happened to that promise?!"

He was tired.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

"—ing to leave … alone…"

He could barely feel the sensation of someone pounding on his chest, trying to desperately rouse him and to tell the other that it would be alright, that everything was okay. They would have a good laugh, and continue on their journey with the rest like they had been for the past few weeks.

_Thump. Thump. Thump…_

"—ant… I can't…"

He remembered the times they shared, of the rain and the snow, and of traveling with people he never would have considered friends before the entire incident. But he was closer to them than ever before, and he supposed he had the snow to thank for that. How strange.

_Thump… thump… thump…_

"—on't… please don't…"

He couldn't see a thing, and he could feel the other's incessant pounding getting weaker with each whack. All he felt was cold, cold, cold, the freezing, damp, wet, squishy sensation of the snow beneath him and soaking through his clothes.

_Thump… thump…_

Unable to say any more words, the other choked up and started to sob, still pounding on his chest.

He wanted to reach up and say that everything would be okay. There was nothing more to worry about, sorry for the scare. We're almost at the end, so just hang on a little longer, okay?

_Thump… thump…_

But he couldn't.

_Thump…_

He was dying.

. two weeks earlier .

"I really want to go outside," Ike muttered, leaning backwards on the couch with one leg crossed over the other and an eaten apple in his hand.

Link looked up at him skeptically. "If you want to want to freeze to death, be my guest. The door is right there." Ike frowned and threw the finished apple at his head. Link growled as it made impact, but didn't move to retaliate.

"It's so boring here," Ness sighed, playing with his yoyo. "It's been snowing for three weeks straight. Is that normal?"

"Not really," Popo shrugged, body half over the top of the couch, kicking his legs lazily in the air. "Even where Nana and I used to live, it stopped snowing sometimes. It was never warm enough for all the snow to melt, and it would snow again soon after, but never for as long and harsh as this."

"Didn't Master Hand say he was gonna do something about it?"

"He did, but then the snow piled up too high and covered all the exits and made it impossible for anyone to leave, so now he's just as stuck as we are," Ike explained. "The thing that sucks most about this is that there's no reception at all anymore! No TV, no internet, no phone calls."

"It's not like you have any of those things where you came from anyway," Ness raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I've really grown to appreciate them here, you know? I've taken them for granted, and now I'm going to die of boredom. Woe is me."

"You'll probably die of starvation first," Link muttered. "There's so many of us living here – food's going to run out sooner or later. What'll we do then?"

"We eat each other," Popo said with a mischievous glance in Ness' direction. "I call dibs on Ness!" He darted of the top of the couch and tackled the psychic boy into the floor, knocking his hat off in the process. Ness laughed and playfully tried pushing him off, but the boy in the blue parka was persistent and the two rolled around on the ground, roughhousing and messing around like little boys were prone to do.

It was at that moment that a certain princess entered the room and gasped lightly at the sight, but giggled soon after realizing that it wasn't serious. "Now, now, boys," Princess Peach said with a smile. "If you want to fight that badly, you can take it to the training room." She turned to face the two adults. "Link, Ike, I have some muffins baking in the oven. I'll call you over again later when they're ready if you want."

"Sure thing," Ike said eagerly. Link looked off to the side but made a similar noise of agreement.

Peach clasped her hands together. "Great! Same thing goes for you two boys as well, but don't hurt each other too badly outside the arena!" With a slight hum, she turned and waltzed her way back toward the general direction of the kitchen.

The blue haired mercenary leaned back in the couch once more with a content sigh escaping from his lips. "I love her cooking. It's like an angel from the heavens personally visit to bless her food, making it as delicious as any food has the right to be."

Link scowled. "Zelda's cooking is better."

"No way!" Ike laughed and shook his hand dismissively. "Zelda can't cook to save her life. Remember that one time she managed to set the pan on fire before she even put anything in it?"

"That was one time!"

"And every other time the food she made was indigestible. Come on, Link, I know you have a preference for Zelda, but you have to admit that Peach's cooking is a ton better."

"Yeah," Ness and Popo stopped their roughhousing just enough to input their own opinions on the matter. "Peach's food is great! Zelda's made me sick," Popo stuck a tongue out for emphasis and Ness laughed.

Link groaned. "Fine, fine, I know when I'm outnumbered. But Peach doesn't do everything better!"

"I never said she did," Ike smirked. "Only that her cooking was better."

* * *

Deep below the mansion, in the confines of a basement, one Smasher was discovering the magic of fire for the first time. With nothing else to do due to the weather outside, he had locked himself so far below to brush up on his fighting skills and learn some new techniques in the process.

People mocked him, saying that he didn't have anything the others didn't have and that he was useless as a fighter. Despite his tough and aloof exterior, the comments eventually did manage to make their way into his heart, and it disturbed him. He wasn't the worst smasher by far – something like that would have to go to someone small and puny like Jigglypuff, or someone who relied on fancy weapons like Fox or Falco, or even someone who didn't even fight by themselves like Olimar.

Despite what the tier list said, he was convinced it was all one giant lie. That was the only way someone like Olimar could be above him. Right?

Nonetheless, there were some interesting things down in the basement. Spell books on elemental control, dark magic, various weapons he could teach himself to utilize properly – it was amazing the other Smashers seemed to be unaware of its existence and didn't use it to their own advantages first.

Master Hand always warned them not to go down into the basement. He couldn't believe he was the first one to actually disobey the rule.

And why wouldn't he? If he knew what great treasures lay down there, he would have gone sooner!

That day, he was teaching himself the magic of fire. The Mario brothers were already used to it, as were apparently Fox and Captain Falcon. Now he would teach himself the skill. Fire danced across the tips of his fingers and covered the entirety of his palm. It didn't burn him – rather, it was warm and soothing. The spell book said it was a dangerous spell, but he didn't buy it one bit. A few minutes was all it took to master such a thing.

"When the tournaments startup again, they'll all be so surprised," he laughed to himself. "And they'll know that I'm a force to be afraid of! Wa-haha!"

"W-Wario?" An annoying voice called out suddenly from behind him, and in shock the fire slipped from his hands and darted into a small corner. The fact that it stayed there should have concerned him, but the presence of another person in his secret place was fresh on his mind.

"What do you want?" He snapped. "What are you doing here?"

The other person held his arms up in what was meant to be a peaceful gesture. "Peach told me to tell everyone I could find about the muffins she was making… I heard some noises down here so I thought I'd come to investigate."

"Are you stupid?!" Wario snapped, and the other shyly backed away. "Didn't Master Hand ever tell you the basement was off-limits?"

"Yes, but… what are _you_ doing down here, then?"

"It's none of your business; it's nothing important! I don't care about Peach's darn muffins, now scram and get lost before I kick you out myself!"

The other's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Wario felt he may have been a little too defensive. "If it's nothing important, then how come I'm not allowed to see what it is?"

"Because it's none of your business!" Wario shouted. May as well go all out now. "Now scram!" He walked up to the other person and backed him up against the wall, towering over him. All suspicion drained from the other's face and he laughed nervously, trying to slip away from Wario to leave when his eyes looked past the portly man and a gasp escaped his lips. "What?"

Wario turned around and instantly all anger and irritation he felt from earlier left his body as he realized the entire back wall of the basement was on fire.

"We have to put it out!" The other exclaimed frantically, looking around for anything that he could use to smother the flames.

"Whose fault is this?! If you hadn't bothered me, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"What were you _doing_ down here?!"

"I told you; it's none of your business!"

As if fueled by their argument, the flames crackled and roared, spreading out onto the floor and to the adjacent walls.

"It's definitely my business now! Come on, there's nothing here we can use to put it out – we have to go upstairs before the staircase burns down!"

He darted out from beneath Wario's massive body and quickly dashed up the flight of stairs, squeezing out the door and probably shouting his head off to anyone who would listen about a fire in the mansion.

Wario shook his head and moved to follow him, but cursed when his leg fell through the floorboard on the fourth step. The heat had already weakened the old wood so, and his weight was enough to nearly snap it in two. "Oh, crud…" He tried pulling his leg out, but the wooden splinters caught onto the fabric of his pants and secured it there. With the fire reaching ever closer, all he could do was close his eyes and hope that the other person had warned everyone else in time to put the fire out before it claimed him.

_If only he hadn't interrupted me…!_

* * *

Ike sniffed the air. "Hey, do you guys smell anything weird?"

The other three males followed suit. "It kind of smells like… something's burning," Popo wrinkled his nose, and Ness nodded in agreement.

"Guess Peach isn't as great of a cook as we all thought," Link laughed. Ike whacked him upside the head.

"I'm gonna go check out what it is," Ness got up from his position on the floor and made his way to the hallway, where he soon disappeared from sight.

Popo sniffed. "Shouldn't we be a little worried, though? I mean, if the fire is really from the kitchen, then Peach should have handled it right then and there, right?"

"Maybe she's too busy telling everyone about her muffins still," Link shrugged. "She probably should have waited until they were done baking before leaving the kitchen, huh?"

"Stop being so bitter. Just because Zelda can't cook doesn't mean you can take it out on Peach," Ike muttered.

"Sorry. I'm not _trying_ to be mean, it's just – I guess personal relations get in the way."

"Uh-huh."

Popo suddenly sat straight up, his gaze somewhere behind the two adults. "T-the fire!"

The two swordsmen turned around to see flames licking at the walls and threatening to invade the living room as well. Black smoke rose from the fire and stuck to the ceiling, willing to choke anyone who dared breathe it in.

Ike quickly stepped off the couch and took a few steps back. "Where the hell is Ness?!"

"Where's the fire extinguisher? Don't tell me Master Hand moved it around again!" Link shouted, staring at the empty space where the extinguisher used to be placed.

Shouting was heard from various other rooms throughout the mansion, and Popo shuddered. "I guess the fire reached them too…"

Ike swore under his breath and quickly grabbed the male Ice Climber by the waste. "We've got no time to spare; we have to get out of here."

"Where are you going to go?" Link asked. "We're snowed in!"

"I'd rather take my chances out there than burn up in here," Ike muttered. "Come on, Popo, I promise I'll protect you. Wear this." He quickly slipped his cape off and wrapped the boy in it despite the thick parka. "I'm going in!" And with that, he ran into the hallway with the fire and Popo, quickly disappearing beyond the thick black smoke.

"Hey, wait!" Link shouted after them, hesitating for only a moment before quickly following their footsteps.

* * *

A door that hadn't been completely blocked off by snow burst open, and four people went tumbling out into the whiteness. The last one out, Wolf, slammed the door shut with his foot and took deep breaths as the frigid temperature started working its way through his fur.

He glanced at the three he had escaped the mansion with – Fox, Olimar, and Captain Falcon. Fox's fur, much like Wolf's, was singed and burned, but he was otherwise alright. The other two captains seemed to be relatively fine as well, and the lupine let out a sigh of relief. As much as he used to hate Fox, being forced to live with him for some time set those feelings off to the side. Temporarily. He would never consider Fox an actual friend, of course.

"Come on," he growled, "Let's move a bit further. We're still too close to the mansion for my liking."

The four trudged up the snowy hill that was immediately before them, and, ten minutes later, Wolf declared themselves far enough away from the mansion. They all turned without a word to each other and watched small figures flee from the burning house, similar to them. They were too far away to make out the silhouettes of those who were escaping, but they were glad that they weren't going to burn up in a fiery hell.

But there were too little numbers. Fox could only count seven… eight figures escape the burning mansion after them, before something happened that made all four of the group gasp.

With a loud groan and shudder, the roof of the mansion caved in. The weight of the entire top floor proved to be too much, and one by one, all of the floors started to collapse onto each other, crushing anything and everything in its way. Smog covered the dark sky, blocking out any light the sun may have managed to shine through the thick clouds of snow, enveloping the world in darkness. The only source of light was the fire that was claiming their home.

Olimar shivered and held onto the closest thing to him – Fox's arm. Fox seemed too shocked to do anything else but place a hand on his helmet in what was probably meant to be a comforting gesture.

Soon enough, the fire was put out by the surround snow and the flakes still falling from the sky. Whoever didn't make it out of the mansion in time was surely crushed in what must have been a horrible death. Everyone who managed to survive had already moved away and out of sight.

Wolf lowered his head, Fox kept staring ahead, Falcon looked off to the side, and Olimar didn't seem to be looking in any direction in particular. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs and each other. No food, no shelter, nothing else but the knowledge that most likely not everyone had survived the mansion fire that none of them knew the origins of.

"… Well, we can't just stand here all day," Wolf muttered. "Let's get moving. Maybe we can find the others. I saw some people head that way, so let's go over there first." He pointed somewhere past the mansion. They'd have to go around the mess of rubble first.

Hopefully they wouldn't be able to see the bodies of anyone they used to know.


End file.
